~Sympathy for the Riddle~

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, the plot, anything. I do not own the lyrics either. Don't sue me, I'm broke.

AN: This is the life of Tom Marvalo Riddle, told from his POV, hope you like it!

Please allow me to introduce myself,
I'm a man of wealth and taste,
I've been around for a long, long year,
Stole many a man's soul and faith,
And I was 'round when jesus christ,
Had his moment of doubt and pain,
Made damn sure that Pilate,
Washed his hands and sealed his fate,


Pleased to meet you,
Hope you guess my name,
But what's puzzling you,
Is the nature of my game,

They say your home is your castle.

The orphanage was not my castle.

This is the story of how I found my home in a great castle, and how I became the most feared Dark Lord.

Now, I shall start from the beginning.

I am an orphan. I am not proud of it.

My father was a common Muggle. I am not proud of that either.

He left my mother when he found out that she was a witch. Filthy Muggles, they act as though they are better than us.

My mother was also directly related to Salazaar Slytherin, the greatest of the four Hogwarts founders. I never understood why she even was associated with Muggles and I suppose I never will.

I was raised in a Muggle orphanage in London. I hated it there. The nuns were afraid of me, they were told to stay away from me, they had heard of what my mother was. It was mostly during the Great Depression that I was there, because of this, we wore filthy rags and weren't given much food.

I loved to read when I was young; unfortunately, there were only a few books at the orphanage that I could get my hands on.

I didn't play with the other children often; they teased me for reading books.

One Christmas Eve, when I was ten years old, I sat in a corner reading a book about the Great War.

"What are you reading there, Tom?" One of the nuns asked me. "Let's see that," she took the book out of my hands and looked at the cover.

"The Great War…Tom, you should be reading about nicer things," she said as she started to walk away.

"Can I have the book back?" I called after her.

"No Tom, I don't know where you got it from but I hope you didn't take it from the office."

"But I like reading about the war!" I protested.

"War is a monstrous thing, Tom. My father died fighting in it. If you like reading so much, I shall give you a bible for Christmas tomorrow,"

"Give me my book back!" I exclaimed. At that moment the book flew out of the nun's hands. She looked shocked, she turned to me, I could see that she was terrified; she had fear in her eyes. The other nuns and children in the room stopped what they were doing to stare.

I got the cane ten times for that incident. The nun said that I had thrown the book, the liar! I got five hits for that, and five hits for taking the book from Mr Holland's office.

"But it wasn't my fault!" I yelled as I was being hit.

"It was your fault, you devil child! Your mother was an evil witch!" Mr Holland shouted. I did not believe that my mother was evil, even back then where I was constantly told. "Now run along to church, maybe the Lord will rid you of that evil."

***

In the summer the next year, I received many letters. They were sent through the muggle post so I was asked to see Mr Holland who was in charge of that horrible institution.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in," I walked in, and I was taken back at the sight. There were envelopes everywhere, letters!

"Now Tom," Mr Holland shook his head in his hands. "If some people come here and say that they want to send you away, you must tell them that you will rather stay here. Do you hear me Tom? No matter how nice this place may sound, it is an evil place that will put strange ideas into your head!"

"I don't understand. I can go somewhere else? What are all these letters?"

"They are acceptance letters to a Wizarding school. You are a wizard Tom, but I cannot let you go to this, this – school!"

"Why?" I looked closely at one of the letters. "These letters are addressed to me!" I started to open one.

"No Tom! Stop it! STOP!" He ripped the letter out of my hands. But it was too late; I understood what I was meant to do. I snatched another letter off the ground and ran. I sprinted as fast as I could. Luckily Mr Holland was a beefy man and could not run very fast at all so he didn't see where I hid.

As I ran past one of the nun's room the door clicked open. It seemed that my magic was working with me today. I went inside, closed the door and hid in the closet. Just as I closed the closet door, I heard Mr Holland yell, "Search the orphanage! Search the orphanage for Tom Riddle!"

They did not care to search the nun's rooms.

I opened the letter as quietly as I could and read it under the light coming through the crack of the closet door.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Dippet

Dear Mr Riddle,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Deputy Headmaster

I couldn't believe my eyes. I read the list of equipment and saw that I had to go to the address shown to get to the Leaky Cauldron which leads to Diagon Alley. Nervous excitement filled me; I never thought that I would be a wizard, just because my mother was a witch.

I reread the letter over and over as the orphanage was searched for me and I waited for night to come so I could sneak up to my dormitory to get my things before I left this awful place for ever.

Little did I know that I would be back here, after the best year of my life.

AN: Thanks for reading! The lyrics at the beginning were from Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones (though it's also sung by Guns n Roses). I put them in because it reminded me of Voldemort. In the next chapter Tom goes to Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. Please review, thanks!